Builders and Contractors Exchange
Weekly Bulletin: 21 Feb 2005
An Emergency Guide To Search Warrants
By: William Dozier
In prior articles, we have discussed the topic of dealing with regulatory investigations for government contractors. In those articles, we specifically discussed what to do if your company received a Grand Jury Subpoena for the production of documents or to compel witness testimony. In a nutshell, our advice was to make sure you have a designated company representative to accept the Subpoena and to make no comment regarding any aspect of the subject of the investigation. That same advice provides the basis for dealing with Search Warrants.
A Search Warrant is much more intrusive than the Grand Jury Subpoena. A Search Warrant allows the law enforcement officer to enter your premises, search for the evidence set out in the warrant and seize the evidence. Federal Investigators typically use Search Warrants when they have a reason to believe to that there is evidence of a crime on the premises and that such evidence may be destroyed or otherwise lost if methods other than a Search Warrant are utilized. A Search Warrant issued by a Federal District Court Judge or Magistrate Judge will permit the Law Enforcement Officer to search for and seize any property that constitutes evidence of the commission of a crime. A Search Warrant is typically executed by a large number of law enforcement agents who will search the entire premises allowed by the warrant and seize all property set out in the warrant. Typically warrants utilized in government contract fraud cases allow the seizure of virtually all of your company records.
When you are given a copy of the Search Warrant, you should review it and contact your lawyer as soon as possible. Do not engage in any discussions regarding the subject of the Warrant. If the Agents ask for your consent to extend the area to be searched, generally such consent is not advisable. You are entitled to be present when the Agent makes an inventory of the property to be seized and to receive a copy of the inventory before the Agent leaves with the seized property. It is very important to note that a Search Warrant does not require giving any statement to the Agents. You are not required to show them the location of documents or other property, describe the property or otherwise assist in the search. However, good judgment will suggest that assistance be provided where the answer is obvious (e.g., "Is this Mr. Smith's office?"), or to prevent unnecessary disruption by the Agents in reaching their objective.
Again, your designated company representative should obtain a copy of the Search Warrant and forward it to your counsel as soon as possible and make no comment regarding any aspect of the subject of the investigation. As we stated in the Grand Jury Subpoena discussions, there is a natural tendency when presented with a Search Warrant to ask "what is this all about" or to attempt to explain that your company has no involvement with the matter being investigated. Do not engage in such conduct. Accept the Search Warrant and forward it directly to your Legal Counsel as soon possible. Your counsel will immediately come to the premises and coordinate all contact with the Federal Agents. Your Counsel will determine whether to speak to all of your employees and whether to send them home until the search is finished. After the search is finished he will coordinate obtaining copies of any documents or other material that has been seized pursuant to the Search Warrant.
If you are served with a Search Warrant, please immediately contact a member of the Vandeventer Black LLP Construction and Public Contracts Department for advice.
Questions?
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This article is meant to bring awareness to this topic and is not intended to be used as legal advice.